The NFL has created a policy mandating that teams hire a minority offensive assistant for the 2022 season and beyond. The Pittsburgh Steelers decided to bring in another William and Mary Hall of Fame player and have announced that David Corley Jr. will fill that role as an assistant quarterback’s coach for the upcoming season. Corley will be called upon to coach up Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and at least two other newcomers to the Black and Gold as the Steelers have stated they would like to bring four quarterbacks to camp in 2022. Corley’s coaching experience has been mostly at the collegiate level, but he did intern previously with the Steelers in 2010, the Houston Texans in 2019 and with the Carolina Panthers twice in 2013 and 2021.
NCAA Playing Career
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Corley attended William and Mary from 1999 to 2002. He played quarterback for the Tribe and turned down opportunities to attend Clemson and South Carolina to play for the 1AA school. Corley started for four years for the Tribe and when he graduated, he owned the Atlantic 10 total yards record (now the CAA) at 10,948 yards. Corley is still third on the all-time conference list. He started 42 consecutive games, which is still a school record, and is the only player in school history to pass for 9,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards. He won the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 1999 and was Second Team All-Conference in his junior and senior years. Corley led William and Mary to the conference title in his junior season. His senior season saw him become a finalist for the Walter Payton Award for the top 1AA player in the country. He was the last four-year starter in the history of the program and was enshrined in the William and Mary Hall of Fame in 2014.
Pro Football
Corley went undrafted in the NFL, so he headed north to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the CFL for the 2003 season. He caught on as a backup and did get to start 1 game in 2003 where he rushed for 2 touchdowns and threw for 1 more. He did not appear in another game in the CFL, and after the 2006 season with the Calgary Stampeders, elected to concentrate on coaching.
NCAA Coaching Experience
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Corley returned to his alma mater in 2008 and filled several roles for the Tribe until 2013. He coached the running backs, quarterbacks, and the wide receivers during that five-year period. He departed for UCONN in 2014 and after coaching running backs/wide receivers and special teams, he was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the 2016 season for the eventual 3-9 Huskies by head coach Bob Diaco. Diaco was fired at the end of the season and Corley headed for Division 1 football as the new wide receiver coach at West Point in 2017. Corley was recruited by James Franklin as the running backs coach for Penn State, but 13 days into his tenure was moved to wide receiver coach. After a disappointing season by Penn State wideouts, he was fired. Most recently he was the running backs coach for Richmond in 2021.
Former William and Mary players Mike Tomlin and Sean McDermott have turned into successful NFL coaches and Tomlin was also enshrined in the William and Mary Hall of Fame as a player. A lot of young offensive assistants bounce around until they find the right mentor and opportunity. Corley has experience coaching receivers in run heavy offenses and could be an ideal candidate to connect the dots on what is expected in Matt Canada’s RPO heavy offense. Fellow Army coaching alum, Mike Sullivan, the current quarterbacks coach in Pittsburgh has 17 years of experience and should be an excellent tutor for Corley. If the Steelers elect to draft any quarterback in this class, they will need significant development and his success may be tied to how well he helps develop that new talent. Corley will have the best opportunity of his young coaching career to lean on Mike Tomlin and take advantage of him as a mentor as Tomlin did on Tony Dungy’s staff prior to landing a coordinator job for the Minnesota Vikings and shortly thereafter his position as the Steelers' head coach.
Could Corley become another coaching success story from William and Mary with the Steelers? I think nothing would make Dan Rooney happier smiling down on Steeler Nation.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? How do you feel about our new assistant coach? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
